Splish, splash, splosh

My turn to set the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and I'd like to see everyone gettting loose and unstructured with inks, watercolours or paints - sploosh, spray and splatter to your heart's content for a focal point, background or accents on your project.

I smooshed my DOX pad onto a piece of acetate, sprayed with water and used it to add drippy ink to my card base. The mistletoe is coloured with Copics, cut out and popped up with a bit of gel glue. The berries have some Glossy Accents for dimension.

And look - I used washi tape! Not sure I've ever used washi tape with anything like success but my local Poundland recently had tubs with six different rolls in each and I couldn't resist a couple of tubs - I think this striped one from the silver/grey/white selection goes well with the stripes in the mistletoe leaves.

I'm playing at Retro Rubber as well where the theme is "anything goes" as long as it features stamps more than a year old. Festive Foliage has been around since 2010.

Stamps:
Festive Foliage (mine is the original Waltzingmouse Stamps set with 2010 copyright, the same design is now available from Gina K with a few minor differences)
Sentiment from an ancient Skipping Stones set 

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger (Cracked Pistachio)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Washi tape
Corner Chomper
Glossy Accents
Pinflair glue gel

Thanks for stopping by!

A Lost Coast Christmas

Visiting Jo's blog a few days back I noticed a link to the Lost Coast/Carmen's Veranda challenge which reminded me I haven't played with my Loast Coast Bubble Border stamp in an absolute age.

This is Challenge #81 and while there's no requirement to use Lost Coast or Carmen's Veranda stamps that's the way I roll!


I've been making Christmas cards recently so that I hopefully have a few on hand before the festivities themselves so that's the way my mind went.

I used detail gold powder to heat emboss the border and sentiment on a die cut black rectangle and then filled in some of the circles with Perfect Pearls mixed with some water. I also used clear Wink of Stella on a few and added some Glossy Accents - it has incredible galaxy-like depth in real life! Tiny nail art gems were the perfect size for a bit extra twinkle on a few circles, too.

Stamps:
Bubble Border (Lost Coast)
Sentiment from Compliments of the Season (Claire Brennan at Gina K)

Paper:
Bristol board
Smooth black

Ink:
Versamark by Tsukineko

Ohter:
Detail embossing powder (gold)
Prfect Pearls by Ranger (Copper, Gold, Pearl)
Clear Wink of Stella pen
Glossy Accents by Ranger
Nail art gems
Stitched r3ectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)

Thanks for stopping by!

One. two, three, four, five

Kathy has set a slightly fiendish challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week. She’d like to see one of something, two of something, three, four and five of something.

I thought this stamp I got recently might fit the bill as a starting point since it gave me my “three” for a start. So...

• One layer
• Two words
• Three baubles
• Four ink pads - used for both stamping and colouring
• Five tiny gems

I did use a silver gel pen as well but I don’t think the challenge police will be after me for using an extra item!

Stamps:
Ornament Collage (Impression Obsession)
Sentiment from an old Cornish Heritage Farms set

Paper:
Watercolour

Ink:
Hero Arts (Soft Granite, Charcoal)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Fired Brick, Peeled Paint)

Other:
Silver gel pen
Nail art gems
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Link in the Chain - July

It's time for another reveal at the Card Chain Challenge. My card has gone to Gail this month. Gail is part of the team that does a fabulous job organising the Chain each month so it's a particular pleasure to be able to send her a card.

From the options on offer this month I chose the theme of faces and also the product options of watercoluring and stencils.

I have to confess to a slight cheat this time - Molly was already watercoloured and mounted on another card that I had never used so I pulled it apart and made a new one since I liked the way she turned out and it seemed a shame not to have sent her to anybody! She's stamped in a very light ink so I could do some "no line" colouring.

I had a stencil out on my desk that was cut with the Spellbinder fancy lattice die - I used that to add a bit of background with Tumbled Glass ink and then ran a glitter pen around the edge of a few shapes and smudged it for some shimmery shading.

Stamps:
Molly (Beeswax Stamps)
Sentiment from Journaling Words 3 (Artistic Stamper)

Paper:
Cold press watercolour
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Black Soot, Pumice Stone, Tumbled Glass)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Circle Nestabilities and Fancy Lattice die (Spellbinder)
White paint pen by Posca
Turquoise Spica glitter pen
Charcoal pencil
Corner Chomper

There are still a few days to sign up for the August chain if you fancy it - just make one card using one or more of the challenge options, send it out and get a handmade card from the next person in the chain.

August elements

Kathy has chosen a lovely inspiration mood board for the August “elemental” challenge over at Daring Cardmakers. As ever, just chose at least three elements from the picture to kickstart your project.

I chose a shell, waves, random sparkle, book text, turquoise blue and a single word in a handwritten style.

I used the square from the Gel Press Petites to add brayered turquoise paint to a card base. I then sketched lines with a Spica glitter pen on the gel square, spritzed with water and pressed it over the paint. Just take care not to press too hard with the pen if you do this so the nib doesn’t damage the surface of the gel. I used the little white imperfections in the paint impression to guide where I put dots of Glossy Accents and poured on some clear glitter. As usual with a still photo the glitter doesn’t show up too well but it’s there and it’s pretty in real life!

Stamps:
Antique Engravings and Say It All (Hero Arts, both retired I believe)

Paper:
Bristol board 
Old book page

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Gel Press Petites
Fresco Finish acrylic paint by PaperArtsy (Mermaid)
Spica glitter pen (Turquoise)
Glossy Accents
Glamour Dust by DecoArt (Crystal)
Washi tape
Corner Chomper 

Here's the inspiration picture if you’d like to join in and didn’t arrive by way of the DCM blog!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tic tac toe at Retro Rubber

I'm Guest Designing for Retro Rubber for the challenge that has just gone live as this dragonfly card was chosen as a Top Pick - thanks Retro Rubber! It's one of their fun tic tac toe boards this time:

I chose a diagonal line and used gems, texture paste and heat embossing to make a little scrapling. I'm trying to get going on some Christmas cards since I've not been building up a stock over the year so far!

I started with a scrapling base of kraft cardstock and added some pearlescent texture paste through a stencil that's cut with a Spellbinder die. While that was drying, I stamped the ornament with a light ink and used Copics to colour it, then overstamped with Versamark and heat embossed with gold. With this image I find the little dots are small enough that if I try to Copic colour after embossing, the detail gets lost as the alcohol ink colours the embossing too. A Misti makes it easy to do it the other way though!

Stamps:
Holiday Ornaments (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us - set is dated 2011)

Paper:
Kraft
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo)
Versamark
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Detail gold embossing powder
Silver thread
Iridescent Paste by Maimeri
Stencil cut with Fancy Lattice die (Spellbinder)
Nail art gems
Corner Chomper
Misti

Thanks for stopping by!

Cactus sunset

It's Miri setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like to see a cactus or cacti on our cards. As they make her think of summer I’ve opted for hot colours, too.

I'm ashamed to say that this is the first time the landscape strip featuring cacti has seen ink! Given the length of time Waltzingmouse Stamps has been closed that says it’s been far too long!

I masked the strip using low tack tape, blended three ink colours into it and then stamped the silhouettes using the Misti to help make sure I got good coverage - a simple one layer card. The rider was a last minute addition and I’m still not sure I didn’t prefer it just with the landscape!

Stamps:
Way Out West and Back in the Saddle (both Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door)

Other:
Misti
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by!

Tying the knot

It's that wedding time of year and Ruth is asking us to celebrate those tying the knot with this week's challenge over at Daring Cardmakers.

I played with a Celtic knot embossing folder and some copper engraving board (what I would have called scraper board as a kid). I read somewhere that you can use nail polish remover rather than sanding off the black coating.

I tried it and I have to admit it was too successful! Even though I was careful not to have to the pad too wet it still took off too much black in the recessed areas of the design. I ended up putting some black acrylic paint back over some areas and using a sanding block anyway!

I aslo added a bit of gold Rub n Buff in places so the knot has more than one metallic tone. I cut the design apart and reassembled bits of it so that I had some white space to work with. I think Kathy and I must be two halves of a whole - she gets jittery about white space, I get jittery about a lack of it!

Supplies:
Celtic knot embossing folder (Spellbinder)
Copper Engraving Art Scraper Foil (Royal and Langnickel)
Nail polish remover
Black acrylic paint
Sanding block
Rub n Buff by Amaco (Gold Leaf)
Sentiment from a smal Kaiser Craft set
Versafine Onyx Black ink
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

July Elements

It's the first Friday of the month so that means it's an "elemental" challenge over at Daring Cardmakers. Dawn has chosen our inspiration picture and as ever, you just need to choose at least three elements from it to kickstart your project (if you choose the colour palette that counts as one element).

I chose five rectangles, raspberries and gingham for a clean and simple birthday card. How perfectly does that sentiment stamp fit the die cut rectangle?! It doesn't take much to have me grinning from ear to ear, does it?

The die set this one came from also had me grinning - I finally found a set of rectangles that's actually proportioned for A6 cards - hooray! Given that everywhere except north America uses ISO standard paper sizes, you wouldn't think it would be a problem but the standard seems to be very much based on US letter paper sizes. OK, I had to go to an Australian company for these but still...

Of course typical me, the first use of the die set is not one where I'm using the dies in the same orientation as the card and I used the smallest one so the relationship may not be obvious!

Stamps:
Sun Ripened (Stampin Up!, retired)
Sentiment from Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Stitched Rectangle Dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
Copic markers
Copic Spica glitter pen (red)
Gingham ribbon
Corner Chomper

Here's the summery inspiration picture if you'd like to play along and didn't arrive here via the DCM blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Link in the chain - June

It's reveal day at the Card Chain Challenge. My card this month went to Jane and from the options on offer I chose the colours (lemon, lime, sky blue) and the theme of feathers.

I just coloured the die cut feathers with inks for a sort of ombre effect and smooshed slightly watered down blue ink onto the card base using a piece of acetate. It's pearlescent ink so it has a pretty sheen in real life. I used the same ink* to stamp the script for a bit of background interest.

Stamps:
Essential Messages and 19th Century Script (both Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Sky, Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger (Twisted Citron)
Jenni Bowlin ink by Ranger (Lemon Drop)

Other:
Feather Duo die/folder by Tim Holtz/Sizzix
Corner Chomper
Pinflair glue gel

*That ink pad is over 13 years old - never been reinked and still performing just fine! I happen to know how long I've had it because I bought a pink and a blue ready to stamp a setniment on a card when a friend was expecting her first baby and that baby (who got a Pearlescent Orchid sentiment, as it happens) is now a teenager!

Thanks for stopping by!